Three and a half years following the Rapture of Christians, Antichrist will be in complete dictatorship over the entire earth. By the time the seventh trumpet has sounded, all humans living on earth will be required to receive the mark of the Antichrist/Beast either on their right hand or on their forehead. At first, those who refuse to take this mark will not be able to buy or sell goods in the world market. Eventually, the False Prophet will execute all those who refuse the Antichrist's mark. Many will be martyred for their testimony and faith in Jesus Christ. Revelation chapter 14 gives details about the 144,000 witnesses who, instead of taking the mark of the Beast have the mark of God written on their foreheads. There will be much rejoicing in heaven celebrating the patience and faith of these who will resist the Antichrist and his False Prophet. Before God pours out His final judgment and wrath upon those left who have rejected His Son as their Lord and Savior, God will send 3 angels with explicit final warnings. Even after everything that happens with the 7 seal judgments and the 7 trumpet judgments, God will give every human left on earth the good news of His salvation and a final warning so that no one will be confused as to what is to come if they reject it. God will give what's left of mankind one final chance to repent and turn to Him. These three angels will be VERY SPECIFIC about the choices mankind must make and the result of each:
And one of the four beasts gave unto the seven angels seven golden vials full of the wrath of God, who liveth for ever and ever. (Revelation 15:7)
The Second Vial
The Third Vial
The Fourth Vial
And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire.
9 And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory.
(Rev. 16:8-9)
The Fifth Vial
The Sixth Vial
The Seventh Vial
And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done.
18 And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great.
19 And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath.
20 And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found.
21 And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent: and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great.
And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people,
7 Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.
8 And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.
9And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand,
10The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb:
11 And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.
(Rev. 14:6-11)
It is only after these final, explicit warnings that the wrath of God is finally poured out from the seven vials on to the earth and those humans left who have KNOWINGLY accepted and worshiped the Antichrist and refused to repent and follow God.
Once again, there is a direct correlation between the Fourth Trumpet judgment and the Fourth Vial or Bowl judgment. Again the sun is effected by this plague, but this time in an opposite way. This time, God will demonstrate His power over the sun by making it brighter and hotter instead of darker and colder. God will actually give the angel who pours out this judgment the power to "scorch" men with fire from the sun! It does not sound like this scorching will bring death since those who are scorched will "blaspheme the name of God". Instead of repenting, men will curse God.
The famous battle at Armageddon will take place during the Sixth Vial or Bowl judgment. The great River Euphrates will dry up and an enormous army "of the east" (the Bible is not specific about the country or countries) will march down it to the place called Armageddon. Three unclean spirits of devils will go to the kings of the earth (figureheads under the one world leader = Antichrist) and gather them to make war against God Himself. These unclean spirits will be empowered by the dragon, Satan and will come forth from the servants of Satan, the Antichrist and his False Prophet. These evil spirits will work miracles and convince many multitudes that the Antichrist and Satan are more powerful than the Almighty God and His Son Jesus Christ.
And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvelous, seven angels having the seven last plagues; for in them is filled up the wrath of God.
(Rev. 15:1)
1 And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels, Go your ways, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth.
2 And the first went, and poured out his vial upon the earth; and there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the men which had the mark of the beast, and
upon them which worshipped his image.
(Rev. 16:1-2)
At this point in the second half of the Tribulation, all those left on earth will have made up their minds whether to follow God and his Son Jesus Christ or the Antichrist and Satan. There will be no more warnings, testimony, etc. Everyone will have more than enough information and first-hand evidence to make their decision. All of those who KNOWINGLY follow the Antichrist at this point on will be punished! All of the plagues that follow represent this punishment. God will pour out his wrath and vengeance upon those who have KNOWINGLY rejected Him, His Son and His commandments. The persecution and deaths of ALL the Christian martyrs and saints throughout history will now be avenged by God himself through these last 7 angels bearing the final 7 judgments.
The First Vial
The Bible does not go in to much detail about this plague, but to say that a noisome and grievous sore will appear on everyone who has the mark of the beast and who worships his image. Webster's defines noisome as: "disgusting: foul, harmful or injurious". Grievous is defined as: "causing grief, anguish or pain". Whatever these sores are, they will definitely cause much grief and anguish in those that receive them.
And the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea; and it became as the blood of a dead man: and every living soul died in the sea.
(Rev. 16:3)
Like the Second Trumpet judgment, the Second Vial judgment effects the earth's seas. During the Second Trumpet plague only a third of the world's oceans and seas were turned to blood. That was only a warning, a prelude to this plague whereby ALL living creatures in the seas will die! In this verse, the Bible is very specific that the salt waters will be like "the blood of a dead man". The waters will not only be dark red, they will be thick! Can you imagine the billions and billions of dead fish, sea mammals, crustaceans and other sea creatures floating upon the seas of the earth and then washing ashore with the tides?! The stench alone will be unbearable!
And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters; and they became blood.
5 And I heard the angel of the waters say, Thou art righteous, O Lord, which art, and wast, and shalt be, because thou hast judged thus.
6 For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy.
7 And I heard another out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments.
(Rev. 16:4-7)
Like the Third Trumpet judgment, the Third Vial or Bowl judgment effects the earth's fresh waters. Again, that plague only effected a third of the earth's fresh water supply. Again, that was only a prelude to this final judgment on the earth's fresh waters whereby they will ALL be turned to blood! Pure drinking water will be worth more than gold after this plague. People will probably kill for bottled water after this!
Unlike some of the other verses, the Bible provides a precise explanation as to the reason for this judgment from God and why it is a just one. This plague represents a direct punishment and vengeance for the millions of prophets and saints whose blood has been slain over millennia for their testimony and belief in the one true God and his Son Jesus Christ.
And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast; and his kingdom was full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues for pain,
11 And blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and repented not of their deeds.
(Rev. 16:10-11)
This judgment appears to be against only those who are directly employed by the Antichrist (beast), living in the capital city from where the world ruler reigns. Webster's defines this type of "seat" as: "A capital or center of activity or authority".
It sounds like this capital will be the only place effected by the total darkness. In addition to being blind with their eyes wide open, these government officials and employees will suffer painful sores that will cause them to gnaw their tongues in anguish!
Again, these people will be fully aware that their torment is caused by God and instead of repenting, they will curse God.
And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared.
13 And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet.
14 For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.
15 Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.
16 And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.
God provides both a warning and a blessing here. He does not wish that ANY should perish. That is why He continually warns and encourages us to watch for the season of His coming.
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Regardless of the size of the massive human army that assembles at Armageddon, they and all their sophisticated weaponry will be no match against the WRATH of GOD! There will be voices and great signs from the heavens. EVERYONE on earth will know that the judgment of God Almighty is upon them!
God will cause an earthquake like none "since men were upon the earth"! Every earthquake man has witnessed up to this point will seem like a light breeze! All of the cities in every nation will fall and be destroyed!
Even the one world capital of Babylon will acknowledge that God's wrath has been poured out upon them and that they have brought this upon themselves!
This earthquake will be so massive that EVERY island and mountain will not only be moved (like during the Sixth Seal judgment) but they will virtually disappear. Islands will crumble in to the seas and the mountains will be flattened!
Finally, during the Seventh Vial or Bowl plague, a great hail will rain down from heaven upon the earth. Each hailstone will weigh the equivalent to a Hebrew talent. At the time the Revelation was written by John around 96 AD, a talent of silver contained 3,000 shekels (Exodus 38:25, Exodus 38:26), and was equal to 94 3/7 pounds!
Believe it or not, this is not the end. As Rev. 16:21 states: "men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great". This is the end of the plagues, but there will still be humans; kings and their armies, the Antichrist and the False Prophet left alive on earth, gathered in Armageddon who will curse God. There is one final battle that remains where Jesus Christ and His army from heaven will ascend to earth!
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